Baldwin rolling into stretch run

Baldwin entered its week-long break for midterms riding the high of a four-game winning streak that included victories over Oceanside (46-31 last Thursday) and Massapequa (58-50) on back-to-back days. The Lady Bruins improved to 11-2 overall, but more importantly, stayed even with Uniondale with at 8-1 in Conference AA-I.

"Every game is a big game," first-year coach Tom Catapano said after the 15-point win over the Lady Sailors. "We just take them one game at a time."

After a sluggish start against Oceanside that saw Baldwin score just six points in the first seven minutes, the Lady Bruins slowly started to chip away at the Lady Sailors' matchup zone defense eventually opening up a double-digit lead at halftime. Senior forward Shayna Gatling paced the offense with a game-high 13 points, but it was her play down low (10 rebounds) that helped offset a double-digit effort by Oceanside freshman Woodlynn Daniel (10 points, 10 rebounds, two blocks). Gatling closed the third quarter with five rebounds in the final 1:15. She also nailed a second-quarter three-pointer that closed out a 12-0 run in the scoring column.

Baldwin's defense prevented clean looks from the perimeter and limited the Lady Sailors to just a pair of three-point field goals (both in the second half). "We have to rely on perimeter shooting from Lauren [Schlitt] and [Ali] Brooks," Oceanside coach Harvey Peyser said of his senior and sophomore, who trimmed the Lady Bruins lead to 10 points with each of their threes.

Ten different Baldwin players scored at least two points, while senior center Kalin Russell blocked three shots. Junior Kiera Corbin added a pair of steals.

The eight-point win over the Lady Chiefs on Jan. 20, featured a game-high 18 points from sophomore point guard Alex Hampton, who scored 11 of them from the free-throw line. "She's coming into her own," Catapano said. "She runs the offense and she's been real aggressive."

The victory gave Baldwin a sweep of the season series and opened up some distance between the top two teams and third-place Massapequa in Conference AA-I, dropping the Lady Chiefs two games off the pace with four to play.  The Lady Bruins outscored Massapequa 34-20 in the second and third quarters, turning a four-point deficit into a 10-point cushion heading into the final eight minutes. The defense played a major role in the turnaround, specifically in halfcourt sets, taking away the Lady Chiefs cutting and curling options as they tried to set up plays.

The Conference AA-I deadlock comes to a head on Tuesday, Feb. 2 when Baldwin travels to Uniondale for a game that could decide first place. The Lady Knights won a 44-43 overtime thriller when the teams met for the first time on Jan. 8.